Urge legislators to postpone tax cuts to save Ohio public services

Oct. 13, 2009 - President Eddie L. Parks is asking union members to urge legislators to back the governor's proposal to freeze tax cuts and save Ohio from yet another round of funding cuts.

There’s two ways you can stand with Gov. Ted Strickland and OCSEA against state budget cuts.

1. Send an email to your state legislators and include an example or two of how you, your co-workers, your customers and your community would be impacted by more cuts.
   
   
2. Sign the online petition to urge state legislators to postpone the tax cut..

The Ohio Supreme Court recently issued a ruling that poked an $851 million hole in the state budget by indicating that a slot machine proposal must be passed by voters. If state leaders do nothing, that money will be squeezed from local schools and other public services.

“The governor’s decision to recommend the postponement of the final year of the income tax cut is a clear and logical solution to the looming budget crisis, and one OCSEA and our coalition members have been advocating for,” Parks said in a recent response to Strickland's Sept. 30, 2009 announcement.

“We know it was a tough decision to make but it was the right one for the people of Ohio, and we stand behind it 100 percent,” Parks added.

Tax cuts, particularly deals that primarily benefit the state’s wealthiest, are not a good deal for most Ohioans.

“Ohio can do more to promote quality, long-term economic development by protecting services and investments in its citizens and infrastructure than by seeking to balance the budget shortfall with harmful cuts to those priorities,” according to a 2003 union report, Saving Ohio’s Services: AFSCME Ohio’s Revenue Options To Fix the State Budget Crisis.

Please take a moment to show your support for suspending tax cuts for the wealthy, instead of cutting funding for schools and other vital public services.

Today, tell legislators how you, your co-workers your customers, and your community will be impacted if they fail to act now to postpone the tax cut.

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